European Old Testament Tragedies in the Age of Enlightenment

拟议的博士项目探讨基于旧约的悲剧如何在欧洲十八世纪构成一种创新的文学流派。从那以后，悲剧在欧洲一直备受争议，在18世纪，关于这种类型的理论论文比比皆是。尽管当时《旧约》悲剧激增，但圣经主题如何被戏剧化的问题却很少被讨论。这一点值得注意，因为悲剧最初植根于固有的宗教背景，即古希腊的酒神节。18世纪人们对圣经悲剧的关注不够，但这并不妨碍德国作家弗里德里希·戈特利布·克洛普施托克、瑞士作家约翰·雅各布·博德默或丹麦作家约翰内斯·埃瓦尔德将旧约故事戏剧化，从而将悲剧改编为基督教。在德语和斯堪的纳维亚地区之外，像伏尔泰、意大利作家维托里奥·阿尔菲利和英国作家汉娜·莫尔这样的作家都把悲剧取材于《旧约》，尽管带有更多的政治色彩。目前对这类悲剧的研究还很有限。默里·罗斯顿在其著作《圣经戏剧在英国从中世纪至今》（1968）中重构了英语圣经戏剧的历史，但忽略了该类型的跨国背景。Daniel Weidner在他的《1800年的圣经与文学》（2011）一书中研究了18世纪的宗教文学，但没有狭隘地关注悲剧。Lynette R. Muir的《中世纪欧洲的圣经戏剧》（1995）探讨了中世纪的圣经戏剧。因此，对18世纪欧洲旧约悲剧的比较分析是迟来的。以下问题可以作为本文的出发点：18世纪以来的欧洲旧约悲剧如何构成一种跨国文学类型？它们在多大程度上融合了基督教信仰和启蒙思想的潜在冲突观念？该类型的创新特征是什么？关键的假设是，在18世纪的欧洲，旧约悲剧的类型有两种主要趋势：德语和斯堪的纳维亚地区的人认为这种类型是传达基督教信息的一种手段，而那些在这个领域之外的人，主要是浪漫主义和英语作家，更倾向于用它来推进他们自己的政治立场。然而，两者的共同点不仅在于它们的文学灵感来源——约翰·弥尔顿的宗教史诗《失乐园》（1667）和让·拉辛的圣经悲剧《阿塔莉》（1691）——还在于它们引入的非悲剧性结局，一种非典型悲剧的创新。通过追溯不同语言区域悲剧的跨国异同，有助于更好地理解启蒙时代欧洲旧约悲剧作为一个体裁的构成和创新。悲剧和相关的准文本将被仔细阅读，并辅以研究文献。本书分为四章，第一章考察了弥尔顿的《失乐园》和拉辛的《阿塔莉》作为18世纪旧约悲剧先驱的作用。第二章主要介绍克洛普斯托克的《亚当》（1757年）、埃瓦尔德的《亚当和埃瓦》（1769年）和博德默的《亚当和埃瓦》（1776年），第三章主要介绍伏尔泰的《扫罗和大卫》（1762年）、阿尔菲利的《扫罗》（1782年）和莫尔的《大卫和歌利亚》（1782年）。第四章以拜伦的《隐》为例，考察了英国向浪漫主义的过渡。一个谜（1821年）。在2020/21学年，我已经完成了悲剧的选择，通过研究文献筛选，并概述了我的论文的最终结构。我也写了第一章的草稿，并开始写第二章。

The proposed doctoral project explores how tragedies based on the Old Testament constitute an innovative literary genre in the European eighteenth century. Tragedy has been highly debated in Europe ever since, and in the eighteenth century, theoretical treatises on the genre abounded. But although there was an upsurge in Old Testament tragedies then, the question of how biblical subjects should be dramatised was scarcely discussed. This is noteworthy, as tragedy was originally embedded in an inherently religious context, the Dionysia in ancient Greece. The insufficient preoccupation with biblical tragedy in eighteenth-century thought did not prevent authors like the German Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, the Swiss Johann Jakob Bodmer, or the Dane Johannes Ewald from dramatising Old Testament narratives and thus appropriating tragedy for Christian religion. Beyond the German-speaking and Scandinavian sphere, authors like Voltaire, the Italian Vittorio Alfieri, and the English writer Hannah More devoted tragedies to subjects taken from the Old Testament, though with a much more political character. The current state of the art of the research on these tragedies is limited. Murray Roston reconstructs the history of anglophone biblical drama in his book Biblical Drama in England from the Middle Ages to the Present Day (1968), but neglects the transnational context of the genre. Daniel Weidner examines eighteenth-century religious literature in his book Bibel und Literatur um 1800 (2011), but without a narrow focus on tragedy. Lynette R. Muir's The Biblical Drama of Medieval Europe (1995) deals with medieval biblical drama. Hence, a comparative analysis of eighteenth-century European Old Testament tragedies is overdue. The following questions serve as the starting point of the proposed thesis: How do European Old Testament tragedies from the eighteenth century constitute a transnational literary genre, to what extent do they incorporate potentially conflicting notions of Christian faith and enlightenment thought, and what is the innovative character of the genre?The key hypothesis is that the genre of Old Testament tragedy in eighteenth-century Europe has two main currents: the German-speaking and Scandinavian sphere conceives the genre as a means for conveying the Christian message, while those beyond this sphere, mainly Romance and English writers, use it rather for the advancement of their own political stances. What both have in common, however, are not only their literary sources of inspiration-John Milton's religious epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) and Jean Racine's biblical tragedy Athalie (1691)-but also the untragic ending they introduce, an innovation untypical of tragedy.By tracing the transnational similarities and divergences of tragedies from different language areas, the proposed thesis helps better understand the constitution and innovations of European Old Testament tragedies as a genre in the Age of Enlightenment. The tragedies and relevant paratexts will be subjected to close readings, supplemented by research literature. Divided into four chapters, the first chapter examines the role of Milton's Paradise Lost and Racine's Athalie as precursors of eighteenth-century Old Testament tragedy. The second chapter focuses on Klopstock's Der Tod Adams (1757), Ewald's Adam og Ewa (1769), and Bodmer's Der Tod des ersten Menschen (1776), followed by the third chapter on Voltaire's Saul et David (1762), Alfieri's Saul (1782), and More's David and Goliath (1782). The fourth chapter examines the transition to Romanticism by the example of George Gordon Byron's Cain. A Mystery (1821).In the academic year 2020/21, I have finalised the selection of tragedies, sifted through research literature, and outlined the definitive structure of my thesis. I have also written a draft of the first chapter and started writing the second chapter.